I have a couple of ideas for the next campaign, but I really would like your feedback before progressing further on it. After the last two years I think I need to re-jig the campaign structure for the following reasons:
1. My time is booking up tighter and tighter each year and I don't feel like I can support the campaign as well with nice updates, fancy medals, etc.
2. The audience is slipping. Fewer downloads, fewer participants, etc.
3. Aeronautica Imperialis is being eclipsed by other games, but especially X-wing. Plus, time is taking its toll on the people who even know about this game's existence.
With those factors in mind, I want to re-think how we do the annual campaign. I have a couple of ideas and would like your input.
Idea Alpha:
Here we would expand the campaign to include all games in the Warhammer Universe. Therefore, you could score points with Epic battles, Warhammer 40K battles, Apocalypse battles, Kill Teams, Battlefleet Gothic, etc. To accommodate this the scale of the campaign would be expanded to a sub-sector with warzones being entire planet's and not just parts of planets. The scoring would take into accoutn the size of the battle represented on a sliding scale as well.
Pros: More potential players getting exposure to our forum/game
Cons: Less focus on AI
Idea Beta:
In this idea, I woudl create an open campaign world that would be long running and not close after a certain amoutnof time. it would allow us to grow and evolve the backgroubnd and tie the battles together on an organic basis. There would be small, quarterly background, rules, and aircraft updates that would tie into what is going on in the campaign. The scale could be planetary or slightly larger, but the campaign would essentially become an open game world that would be modified by the actions of the players.
Pros: More organic with player actions impacting the overall story. Create more community on the forums. Players can come and go freely and play whenever.
Cons: No true end date. Would not necessarily increase AI users on the forum. Could be periods of inactivity.
Idea Charlie:
Create a faction specific campaign based on the players we know have a track record of participation. The campaign would be Eldar vs. Chaos, or Chaos vs. Orks as an example. This would allow us to focus on those of us who we know will participate and decrease the scope fo the story/add-ons for the campaign supplement.
Pros: Easier to create and pull off. Possibly do more than 1 campaign annually. Promote the building of a focused faction force. Focus on our existing community.
Cons: Reduces the campaign appeal. Reduce players/downloads further. Focus will be on our existing community.
Idea Delta:
Instead of a campaign, instead create a campaign book similar to Forgeworld books. In this case the focus will not be on playing out the results of the campaign, but instead on the "historical" action of a campaign. Not only will it tell the story of the camapign in a narrative/historical/fiction way, but it will include game content for recreate the conflict with sceanrios., aircraft, and special characters. This would be similar to the Typha IV campaign in Tactica Aeronautica.
Pros: Easier to put together and could focus on a story. Allow players to do what they want. Possibly larger audience.
Con: Not an actual campaign that we play in.
So, let me know what you think of these ideas. I am also open to hearing what you guys think we need to do to change it up, if anything at all. Perhaps we could mesh some fo these ideas together too. I know I don't have all the answers. Let me know your feedback.
